Psalm 69 this evening is our
study. I'm entitling the message from
Psalm 69, the Psalm of the Cross. The Psalm of the Cross. I'm determined
as Paul to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ dies for
our sins. You remember we studied 1 Corinthians
15? He died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. according to the Scriptures.
They did only those things that God determined before to be done. You remember? Psalm 69, along
with Psalm 22, both declare the glorious victory of our Lord
Jesus Christ. They record His victorious suffering,
that He endured for us as our substitute. Suffering for our
sin and sufferings that He suffered were real and horrible. When
He suffered the wrath of God for us, the wrath of God was
spent on Him without any mixture of mercy. The pure, holy wrath
of God was unleashed upon Him in His holy anger. God's holiness God's anger is
His holiness stirred in the activity against sin. That's what we see
happening at the cross. It wasn't what men did there.
That's not our hope. It's what God was doing there.
God planned the cross. God presided over the cross.
And God participated in afflicting His dear son. Son, these two
Psalms, Psalm 22 and Psalm 69, are quoted more often in the
New Testament than any other Scripture in all the Old Testament,
these two Psalms. And the Holy Spirit always applies
them to the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Every time
they're mentioned, they're always applied to Christ in the Gospel. This Psalm begins with His suffering
for our sin and ends with His exaltation and glorious victory
over all enemies, over all our sin, having put away our sin.
Aren't you glad that he's victorious? He knows a lot about agony, but
he doesn't know anything about the agony of defeat. It's the
agony of victory. And because the Lord Jesus Christ
has won the victory, He's given us that victory. Thanks be to
God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are winners in Him. Everyone wants to be on the winning
team, don't they? That's why Paul said, oh, they
may win Christ and be found in Him. We are on the winning team
in Him. He's victorious. He's the captain
of our salvation, having accomplished all our salvation for us. Now
let's read verse 1, 2, and 3. Save me, O God, for waters are
coming to my soul. I sink in deep, deep mire where
there's no standing quicksand. I'm coming to deep waters where
the floods overflow me I am weary of my crying, my throat is dried,
mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. Three hours upon the
cross, the Lord Jesus Christ is suffering like no other. Behold
and see what manner that the Lord has suffered for us. The
Lord Jesus Christ is not praying to escape this appointed hour
of sacrifice for our sin, but he's praying to be sustained
under the deep mire and deep waters of our sin. You remember
in the garden he prayed, Father, he said, I don't pray that this
cup pass from me, but Lord, my will, let it be according to
thy will. Thy will be done. Not my will,
he said, but thy will be done. That's what he prayed. He's not
praying to escape the cross. He knows full well. He said in
John 12, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Calvary and the cross did not
sneak up on the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew exactly, remember, why
He told His disciples, I must go to Jerusalem, I must be betrayed,
I must suffer. Calvary didn't sneak up on Him.
He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He knew
full well why He came. And he knew that he must suffer
for our sins. We studied in Acts chapter 2,
remember? Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken with wicked hands and have
crucified the Lord of glory. The chief agony our Lord endured
upon the cross was soul agony. Notice he said, save me, O God,
for waters are come into my soul. His soul was made an offering
for sin. As our substitute, he could not
save himself from the cross and be our atonement for sin, but
rather he gave himself for our sin. Remember they derided him,
said to him, you saved others, save yourself. He couldn't save
Himself and save us. He gave Himself for our sin as
we studied Sunday Ephesians 5, as a squeak smelling favor unto
God. The just one died for the unjust
that He might bring us unto God. Look at verse 4. They hated me. They hated me without any good
cause. Those Pharisees, they hated him
so much. They that hate me are more than
the hairs on my head. They that would destroy me, being
mine enemies wrongfully, they're mighty enemies. Then I restored
that which I took not away. Now here's the key statement. of the Gospel. He restored all
that we lost in Adam. They hated the Lord Jesus Christ
without any good reason. In John, don't turn, let me just
read it to you. In John chapter 15 verse 25, But this has come to pass, that
the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, they
hated me without a cause. The Lord himself quotes Psalm
69 in the fulfillment of what happened to him there in Jerusalem. The natural man, the carnal mind,
They hate me without a cause. The carnal mind is enmity, enmity
against God. The natural man left to himself
is an enemy of God, hates the true and living God. He must
make us new creatures to cause us to love him. And then the
last part of verse four, then I restored that which I took
not away. In Adam, all have sinned. In Christ shall all be made alive.
What did Adam lose in the garden? When sin entered in, he lost
a paradise. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
in and bought a better paradise that we can never lose, heavenly
glory. Adam lost righteousness. The
Lord Jesus Christ brought in an everlasting righteousness
for us. Adam lost life. The Lord Jesus
Christ brought in everlasting life. He said, I am come that
they might have life and have it more abundantly. He said,
I am the way, the truth. I am life. Adam lost his inheritance. He had that whole garden, the
rule over all that garden. He lost it all because of sin.
Adam lost his inheritance. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
in an everlasting, incorruptible, eternal inheritance for us. You
see what he's saying there? I restored that which I took
not away. Adam lost God's glory. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
in for us everlasting life and eternal glory. Aren't you glad
that he restored that? Where sin abounded, grace does
much more, much more abound. Look at verse 5, O God, thou
knowest Now here he's talking as our substitute. Thou knowest
my foolishness, and my sins, or my guiltiness are not hid
from thee. The Lord Jesus Christ had no
sin of his own, did no sin and knew no sin, and therefore had
no shame in himself. But as he's made sin for us on
Calvary's tree, bearing our sin in his own body on the tree,
he is both guilty, shameful before God. That's why God had to turn
his back on him and had to forsake him because he was made sin for
us. But notice he says here, my sins,
my sins. He calls our sins, turn over
to Psalm 40. You remember this one? He calls
our sins, reckoned and imputed to Him. He calls our sins laid
upon Him. God made Him to be sinned for
us. He calls our sins His own. Psalm 40, look at verse 12. For
innumerable evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have
taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are
more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me. Oh, be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me and make haste to my help." He calls our sin his own. so identified with our humanity,
God incarnate, so identified with our sin, that when God looked
upon him, he sees him as sin, as he's made sin for us. We read in Psalm 22, he said,
I am a worm, I am a worm and no man, but thou art holy, O
thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel, but I am a worm, and
no man of reproach of men and despise of the people." Now that
word worm there is not what we think of as a red earthworm. That word worm there has reference
to that maggot that's eating a dead carcass. The Lord Jesus
Christ became a worm to save worms. Turn over here to Isaiah
41. He became us. He became a worm
to save us. Isaiah 41. You want to see this. Isaiah 41 verse 14. Fear not thou worm Jacob. He called Jacob a worm. Well
he was. Sinful man. You men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." The Lord Jesus Christ
became what we are that we might become what He is, sons of God. He became a worm bearing our
sin that we might have the everlasting righteousness of God. That's
substitution. That's the glory and beauty of
the Gospel. Now look at verse 6 and 7 back in Psalm 69. Let not them that wait on thee,
O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that
seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel, because
for thy sake I have borne reproach. Shame covered my face. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
brought in salvation by His blood sacrifice, the believer resting
in Him, being found in Him, we have nothing to be ashamed of
before God or men. We rather glory in the cross
and are never ashamed of the gospel. Let them that wait on
thee, O Lord God of hosts, be not ashamed, let us be not confounded,
and let us not have shame before our God. That's why the Apostle
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I know
whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that
which I've committed unto him. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. I'm not confounded. nor ashamed, because we have
a substitute. A substitute, the Lamb of God,
that takes away our sin. Our sin. He's not ashamed. We're
not ashamed of Him. Remember, I studied in the book
of Hebrews, and this is an amazing thing. He's not ashamed to call
us brethren. We're not ashamed of Him. We
own Him as our Lord and Savior. And He's not ashamed to own us.
Those who trust on Him cannot be ashamed. Those who trust Him
cannot be confounded. Resting on Christ, that solid
rock. Look at verse 8, I become a stranger. I become a stranger unto my brethren. How weak is our flesh. I become
a stranger unto my brethren, alien unto my mother's children. His own nation, you remember
John chapter 1? He came unto His own. and his
own received him not. His own kinfolk did not believe
on him. His own family did not believe
on him. Mary had other children. They
didn't believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Messiah. Even
his disciples, the apostles, all the apostles, John, Peter,
Andrew, John, they all forsook him and fled. They all forsook
him and fled. that the scripture might be fulfilled.
And Peter bragged these other men, oh, they'll forsake you. Not me. I'll never leave you. Peter was the very one who denied
him not once, but twice, three times. And I read this today,
and let me read it to you again. Matthew 26, 56. Let me just read
it to you. I can find it. Matthew 26, 56. Here's what I want. He denied
with an oath. And here's what he said, I do
not know the man. Peter, Peter, I do not know the
man. Peter denied him. All the apostles
forsook him. And they did that. that the scripture
might be fulfilled. Look at verse 9, Psalm 69 verse
9. For the zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up, the reproaches of them that reproach thee, they
fell upon me, bearing our reproach. Wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquity, the chastisement of our peace was
upon him and with his tribe, We are healed. The Lord Jesus
Christ was most zealous, eaten up with passionate jealousy for
the Father's glory. And notice the reference there
on verse 9 is John 2 verse 17. When the Lord went into the temple
and saw what was going on, He made a scourge, a whip, and drove
the money changers out. And then it said that the disciples
remembered this scripture, how the zeal of God's glory, he was
totally consumed with it, eaten up with the glory of God. He
patiently endured the sinful reproaches and wicked actions
of men against him. As they spoke evil of him, they
spoke evil of God. And he said, when you've seen
me, you've seen the Father. I, my Father, we are one. The
reproaches of them that reproach thee, they fell upon me. Upon me. Our sin fell upon Him. Our guilt fell upon Him. All the reproaches that we have
against our God fell upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold the
Lamb of God that taketh away all our sin. Is that good news? Look at verse 10, 11, and 12.
When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to
my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment. I become a proverb to them. They
said to him, so many terrible, terrible things. They said, if you'd be the son
of God, come down from the cross and we'll believe you. They that
sit in the gate, that is the judges, they speak against me.
I was a song of the religious, not only of the Judges, but a
song of the drunkards. A song of the drunkard. The Lord
of glory taking our humanity in union with his deity should
have been a glorious reason to praise the Lord. But instead,
it only increased the ridicule and mocking that he received
from the religious judges in the gates and from the drunkards
in the streets. They all spoke evil of him. This
man eats with sinners, publicans and sinners. He's a friend of
sinners. He's a winebibber. He's a gluttonous
man. He's a prince of the devils,
Beelzebub. But as for me, look at verse
13. Let's read down through verse
18. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee. O Lord, in acceptable
time, O God, in the multitude of thy mercies, hear me. And
in the truth of thy salvation, deliver me out of the mire. Let
me not sink. Let me be delivered from them
that hate me. out of the deep waters, and he
was delivered, delivered for our offenses, raised again for
our justification. Let not the water flood overflow
me, neither let the deep swallow me up, let not the pit shut her
mouth upon me. Oh, he was in the pit for three
days, but on the third day, his glorious resurrection. Hear me,
O Lord, for thy lovingkindness is good. Turn unto me according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Hide not thy face from
thy servant, for I'm in trouble. Hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto
my soul and redeem it. Deliver me because of my enemies. Now let me make a few comments
here. While the enemies mocked him,
the Lord continued as our Redeemer, as our mediator, as our advocate,
to accomplish our salvation. As the God-man mediator, the
Lord prayed that salvation, that salvation which the Father had
purposed, he might fully accomplish, not that it was ever in jeopardy. He said, I finished the work
you gave me to do. And he was raised from the pit
of sin and corruption. which guarantees our salvation
and our resurrection. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believes in me will never
die. I look at verse 19. Thou hast known my reproach,
talking about our sin, calling it his reproach, and my shame
as our sin was made to be his sin, and my dishonor My adversaries
are all before me. He had many adversaries, didn't
he? Again, our Lord returned to his suffering for our sin.
Three words here are given to describe something, what he suffered
on account of our sin, on account of our sin. Those three words,
reproach, shame, and dishonor. Remember what our Lord said over
here in Hebrews 12. Let me read it to you. looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God. Reproach hath broken my heart. Thou hast known my reproach,
my shame, and my dishonor. Reproach His disgrace. My shame stripped naked. We read
in Psalm 22, remember He said, I can tell or count all my bones.
On the cross, He was stripped naked before all men. Shameful. My reproach. My shame. My dishonor. They mocked Him
in so many ways. You be a king? Hail King Jesus. Remember, they planted a crown
of thorns and crushed it on his brow. They put a flimsy reed
in his hand. They bowed the knee. They put
a purple robe upon him and mocked him as king. My adversaries are
many. Oh, he had a lot of adversaries,
didn't he? These are the things that we
deserve. Reproach, shame, dishonor. Yet the Lord endured them for
us. out of love for God, His glory,
and of love for us. He earned His love, not that
we love God, but He laid down His life for us. I can't get
over that. He laid down His life for us.
He gave Himself for our sins. Reproach hath broken my heart.
Look at verse 20. Reproach hath broken my heart.
Remember what we read over here? I am poured out like water, Psalm
22. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It's melted in the midst of my
bowels. My strength is dried up like
a potsherd. My tongue cleaveth to my jaw.
Thou hast brought me into the dust of death, where dogs have
compassed me. The assembly of the wicked have
enclosed me. They pierced my hands and they pierced my feet. He suffers like no one else suffers. Our Lord died with a broken heart,
but He didn't die of a broken heart. He died because He was
made sin for us. He died because of the guiltiness
of our sin. Remember, the wage of sin is
death. That's why He died. That's why
he died. Our sin brought his death. He
was forsaken of men, forsaken of God, and cruelly mocked in
his thirst. Remember he cried from the cross,
Father I thirst. They gave me also, verse 21,
for my meat and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar, vinegar
to drink. They mocked him as he's suffering
the wrath of God. And all these things are done
that the scripture might be fulfilled. He was a real man in his real
humanity. He thirsted. He thirsted like
no one ever thirsted. He said over here, my strength
is dried up, my tongue cleaveth to my jaw, thou hast brought
me into the dust of death. And then when he said, Father,
I thirst, what did they do? They even mocked him further,
giving him gall, vinegar to drink. At verse 22 down through verse
28, what we see is judgment. Judgment comes. Let their table
become a snare. before them, and that which should
have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their
eyes be darkened that they see not." He judicially blinded those
people, didn't he? Blinded to this day. "...and
make their loin continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation
upon them. Let thy wrathful anger take hold
upon them." Well, I thought God loved everybody. Let thine anger, God's anger
with the wicked every day, pour out thy ignomination upon them.
Let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation
be desolate. Let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou
hast smitten, smitten and afflicted of God. They talk to grief of
those whom thou hast wounded. We think about the wounds that
men made, but it was a sword of God's justice that wounded
him in our room. And I said, add iniquity unto
their iniquity, and let not Let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the
book of the living and not be written, not be written with
the righteous." Well, what severe judgment fell upon those people,
severe judgment upon that Jewish nation, which for the most part
is still in effect today against these rebels. That verse is quoted. over here in Romans. Don't turn,
let me read it to you. When Paul talks about, let their
table be made a snare, a trap, and a stumbling block, a recompense
unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that
they see not, and bow down their back always. I say then, have
they not stumbled that they should fall? Yes, that's from Romans
chapter 11. Paul quotes that and applies
that to that Jewish nation that was so religious and so hateful
against God. Their ceremonies are typed under
the law. Under the law should have been
a stepping stone which was given to reveal Christ, but instead
it became a stumbling stone, a rock of offense to those who
were perishing. Christ crucified is foolishness. Verse 28, let them be blotted
out of the book of the living. and not be written with the righteous."
Blot them out. They thought so highly of themselves
to write themselves into the book of God. They said, we be
Abraham's children. We're sons of God. God said,
they shall be written off. Those who reject the Lord Jesus
Christ have nothing to look forward to but judgment, wrath, and indignation. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. Verse 29, But I am poor and sorrowful,
Let thy salvation, O God, set me on high. I'll praise thy name,
the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord
better. The Lord brought a better sacrifice.
The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. The Lord
brought a better sacrifice. Thy blessing upon a better promise,
a better covenant, a better priesthood. The humble shall see this." We're
glad, aren't we? He's humbled us, and he's given
us eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ crucified as all of our
salvation. The humble shall see this with
eyes of faith, and your heart shall live that seek God. For the Lord heareth the poor.
I am poor and needy, David said, yet the Lord thinks upon me,
and despised not the prisoner. He came to set the prisoners
free. He came to seek and to save the lost. Verse 34, let
the heaven and the earth praise Him, the seas and everything
that moveth therein. God forbid we should glory saved
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 35, God will. God will if you will. That's
what they say. God wants to, but you won't let
Him. God will save Zion. His church. And He did with His
own blood. God will save Zion. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from their sin and will build the cities of
Judah that they may dwell therein and have it in possession. He
said, I'm the Lord. I'll build my church. And the
gates of hell shall not prevail. It shall be built upon that foundation
that God has laid in Zion. That's good news, isn't it? Christ's
blood atonement is most pleasing unto the Lord and most pleasing
unto His people. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. The Lord shall save His people.
Verse 36, And the seed also of His servants shall inherit it. And they that love his name shall dwell therein. Look right
down the page there. It's Psalm 70. Let all those
that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love
thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified. The seed
here he's talking about are those sons of God. The seed of Abraham. The children of God. If ye be
Christ, then you're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. Remember Galatians 3? The seed also of his servant
shall inherit it. The whole inheritance of grace.
We've been made heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have no inheritance here.
We have no inheritance in land and money and finances. That's
all going to be destroyed. Our inheritance is in heaven.
We've set our affection on things above. They that love His name,
oh, that's where they'll dwell, where the Lord is. We love Him. We love His name. His name is
called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. We love His name, the Lord Jesus
Christ. God highly exalted Him and given
Him a name which is above every name, no other name under heaven,
given among men, whereby we must be saved. We have an inheritance. We love His name. If any man
loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. We only love
Him because He first loved us.